Designing hierarchical ring-star networks under node capacity constraints

This paper deals with a capacitated ring-star network design problem (CRSNDP) with a node capacity constraints. The CRSNDP is formulated as a mixed 0-1 integer problem, and a 2-phase heuristic solution procedure, ADD & VAM and RING, is developed, in which the CRSNDP is decomposed into two subproblems: the capacitated facility location problem (CFLP) and the traveling salesman problem (TSP). To solve the CFLP in phase I the ADD & VAM procedure selects hub nodes and their appropriate capacity from a candidate set and then assigns them user nodes under node capacity constraints. In phase II the RING procedure solves the TSP to interconnect the selected hubs to form a ring. Finally a solution of the CRSNDP can be achieved through combining two solutions of phases I & II, thus a final design of the capacitated ring-star network is determined. The analysis of computational results on various random problems has shown that the 2-phase heuristic procedure produces a solution very fast even with large-scale problems. [In Korean.]